If you're wondering why some children grow up to become successful readers and possess a love for reading, the answer is simple. Their parents have made a commitment to their reading development.

Children can begin a journey to reading success and enjoyment when parents commit to:

- reading to children as young as six months old. Begin reading when they are barely sitting up and their eyes are beginning to focus. Select simple, colorful board books and read them aloud with expression. Point to pictures, identify characters or animals and talk about the story.

- a schedule for reading aloud until children are independent readers. Modeling good reading allows children to hear reading that is fluid and full of expression. Parents should allow children to select books as well as select books themselves. When parents introduce new books, this helps children develop a sense of the kinds of books they like.

- to making visits to the library until children are old enough to go there on their own. Show children visiting the library will become a part of their lives. Help them choose books to read or have read aloud. If children are older talk about the books they've chosen. Parents should select books themselves and talk about what they're reading as well.

- to taking their children to books stores in their strollers, through the elementary, middle and high school years. Buy them a drink or snack, and browse the colorful displays and shelves full of books. Both parents and children should leave with a book.

- to reading themselves. Children naturally emulate their parent's behavior. When parents possess a love for reading their children usually do as well. Parent should always have a novel they're reading and set aside time for "read ins" with their children.

When parents commit to their children's reading education, this nurtures reading development and an enjoyment of books. And, all the while those parents have had a great time enjoying great books themselves.

There are hundreds of adorable new baby gift baskets out there. Some are actually adorable and useful. Finding a new baby gift basket with quality children's books is like striking gold in a dark mine shaft.

Babies should be read to from the moment they can sit in mom or dad's lap. Even though the new little one won't understand the story line or even some of the basic language, the sounds of a parent's voice is one the most soothing things for an infant. Small infants love sharp contrasting colors. There are numerous books that show black and white designs with red accents. These make a young baby's eyes wide with excitement.

As the child grows, simple picture books are appealing. Colorful pictures with simple text are ideal. Many babies, as they reach a few months old, love the texture of the feel and learn type books. This is a great way for a parent to show new vocabulary, whether it is farm animals to fruits and vegetables. The parent can repeat the words while the child can feel the texture that was made into the book. A great extension of this reading time is to show your child the things from the book in real life situations. This could range from walking through a petting zoo to exploring the produce at the local grocery store.

Books with rhyme and repetition are huge hits. Most of the time mom and dad will have the story memorized from reading it so much. Sometimes, you can start saying the book from memorization and your one year old will actually go locate the book. Rhymes are a great way for the child to develop language. Some rhyming books use silly words as part of the rhyming, but as the child starts doing this also, it shows that the child is progressing in phonological awareness which is crucial to reading success. Hearing the sounds and being able to reproduce the sounds are necessary components to triumph when it comes to language development.

So, when you are searching for that unique baby gift, you can be the dock master that sets the ship of reading sailing for any new child.

About The Author...Sarah Garr is a veteran teacher by trade, but when she had her son, Tate, she knew her life was going to change in more ways than she could possibly imagine. She intended to continue teaching while my husband played the role of "Awesome Stay At Home Dad". However, she couldn't stand it. She loved her kids at school, but every time she hugged a Kindergartener she felt an overwhelming need to be at home hugging her own handsome son. When Sarah is not chasing after her energetic toddler she is busy coddling her new baby, Sweet Tater Baby Gifts. Sweet Tater Baby Giftsoffers a full line of unique and personalized baby gifts and baby gift ideas. Come visit www.SweetTaterBabyGifts.comtoday!

Why Reading Aloud To Your Child Is Importantby Kent Johnson

Okay, so your child loves to watch television, play video games, surf on the Internet, and listen to music. And there's nothing wrong with those activities, as long as they're used in moderation. Most parents would also love to see their kids participate in more constructive activities -- like reading children's books -- but the trick is to get your little ones to actually sit down and crack open a book a few times per week.

One way to start is by sitting down and reading aloud to your children. By reading aloud to your kids, you're showing them how to enjoy children's books, the English language, the wonders of a good story, and hopefully, you're instilling a love of reading and learning. Many kids associate books with the drudgeries of school and homework, but you want to show them how a well written children's book can be an exciting adventure, a real pleasure, as their imagination takes them to places they've never been to visit with people and characters they've never met.

According to a recent US government study, there's a direct relationship with reading aloud to your children and childhood literacy rates. Reading children's books and other materials to your children is not only a great educational head start for pre-school, but also a wonderful social activity, and a chance to spend quallity time with your kids.

Reading to children is shown to have a positive effect on children's literacy outcomes, the government report concludes. Through experience with books, children gain important exposure to written language. They begin making connections between the spoken word and the printed word. Policymakers contend that it is important to read to your child.

Regrettably, few children today seem to read for pleasure. In one study, only 7 out of 10 9-year-olds said that they enjoy reading as a pastime, compared with 78% five years ago, while for 11-year-olds, the proportion has declined from 77% to 65%. Children said they preferred watching television to going to the library or reading. But the biggest changes in attitudes were among boys. In Year 6, only 55% of boys said they enjoyed stories compared with 70% in 1998.

So getting your children -- especially males -- to read, and enjoy reading, is a real challenge these days. And again, one way to tackle that challenge is to read to your children aloud. One technique is to make reading a children's book a game, an interactive adventure that you can both enjoy. After all, this is another way to spend some quality time with your kids, which is what they want anyway.

Another way to use children's books and literature to teach is through the so-called "Charlotte Mason" method. In this method of teaching, the child "tells back," in his or her own words, a short book or poem, or a chapter of a longer book. The child is forced to focus on the story, and understand its meaning. This type of verbal narration is especially effective in younger children who may not have the writing skills necessary to put their thoughts down on paper.

The goal is to get your child to open a book for fun, on their own, without prodding from you or their teachers in school. I can remember my own excitement and fascination when I discovered the Lord Of The Rings trilogy as young teenager, and how many hours of entertainment and enjoyment I culled from the pages of that classic fantasy series.

About The Author... Kent Johnson — Reading Expert and Career Coach Visit Books To Order Personalized BooksYour source for personalized children's books that make reading fun.

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